this week, a great album featuring the players of khana phet ubon! led by molamchalatnoi songsoem, the group is rounded out by leading lady chomsawai saenthawisuk & the lesser-known duangchannoi chianklon, all capable lam practitioners from ubon ratchathani province. this is an album of lam in strict voice & khaen configuration... the style featured is lam rueang to klon, a traditionally theatrical genre where the emphasis is on storytelling. needless to say, the story itself will be lost on non-isaan speakers (myself included).. but the music & voices should have little trouble holding the fascination of those unable to comprehend the words. enjoy!!

hope everyone will forgive the length between posts; due to a massive hard drive failure, the blog was out of commission for a little while.. but after a month's absence, all has been recovered and we're ready to go! to make up for time lost, let's get back into things with a real gem from the incomparable phongsiworanut! if you're a regular here, you probably know of phongsi by now; luk thung's first female star and rival to the genre's king, suraphon sombatcharoen. this album is from a bit later in her career (the 1970's, i think), and features one of her most beautiful and enduring singles, "fak din" (track 3). while the brass-laden ballads may be light of atmosphere, the subject matter of these songs is heavy; the lyrics tell tales of death, prostitution and love gone wrong. classic luk thung from an timeless star.. enjoy!

enchanting songs of thailand

a collection of great music made by the people of thailand; luk thung, luk krung, molam, regional folk styles & more. mostly recorded from tape, sound quality should be pretty good (unless stated otherwise). transliteration is done using the royal thai general system of transcription. feedback/re-upload requests/etc. always appreciated!